Children's home run by Good News Nwk Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1248509 1 Registered provider: Good News NWK Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children and young people, aged between eight and 17 years. The children and young people have learning disabilities that fall within the autistic spectrum.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since the home opened in April 2017.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 7 November 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report children’s home: 1248509 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1248509 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, this is to ensure that staff understand their responsibilities, and the home’s policies, relating to the use of locking doors as part of behaviour management strategies.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation (12) (1)(2)(a)(v)) 28/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 28/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 28/11/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1248509 4 within 48 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i) and (ii)) The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there.

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Requirement Due date

On this occasion the relevant person is the designated officer in the local authority children’s services.

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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improvement to be good

While the progress children make is generally positive, the shortfalls identified across the outcome areas means that the home is not yet good.

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improvement to be good

Children’s privacy is not always respected. For example, confidential information was discussed openly by staff in front of another child.

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improvement to be good

While the team advocates for children’s right to access education, neither child started Inspection report children’s home: 1248509 5 the September term at school. The planning for daily reading and similar education- based time for one child who is not in school is weak. However, when this was raised as a concern, the deputy manager responded immediately by adding improved structure to the child’s plan. Nurturing support and encouragement are provided to a child who is on a phased return to full-time school. This reduces his anxieties.

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improvement to be good

Both children are happy and are settled in their placements. They are comfortable spending time with staff and have started to build attachments. Children say that staff are ‘one of the best things about the home’.

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improvement to be good

Children are in good health. They are supported to be physically active and to eat a healthy diet. Their emotional well-being is closely monitored.

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improvement to be good

Children make progress from their starting points. An example of this is a marked reduction in self-harm. A social worker said, ‘[The child] is progressing really, really well. When he was placed, he was at crisis point. Concerns have reduced significantly.’ A social worker for another child said, ‘They went above and beyond to work with her; they did really well.’ This social worker made reference to the commitment of the team when working with very challenging issues.

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improvement to be good

A lack of management oversight of behaviour management means that children are not always safeguarded. The recording of incidents is often poor. For example, records lack clarity and often include opinion. A physical intervention record was seen by the registered manager for the first time during the inspection. The registered manager was unaware of the event until that point. He had not reviewed the incident, had not looked at staff practice and had not spoken to the child.

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improvement to be good

On several occasions, staff have resorted to locking doors to provide a physical barrier between children during incidents. Staff do not exhaust the strategies available to them to manage behaviours, and resort to locking doors too quickly.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding incidents are not always referred on as required by children’s homes regulations and statutory guidance. For example, an allegation about staff practice during a restraint, raised by a previous resident, was not referred on to the designated officer in the local authority. While the child later withdrew the allegation, the lack of reporting fails to promote children’s welfare. The opportunity for a multi-agency, transparent investigation was restricted.

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improvement to be good

There are examples of children becoming safer since moving to the home. For one child, there has been a reduction in levels of anxiety and self-harm. The team learns from incidents and implements adjusted risk-management strategies to improve children’s safety. Evolving behaviour management strategies for one child have resulted in a reduction in incidents. Children are becoming more self-aware. They are starting to take ‘time-out’ rather than reacting aggressively to emotions. Inspection report children’s home: 1248509 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is held in high regard by the children, staff and external professionals. His enthusiasm and firm focus on achieving good outcomes for children have a positive impact on the service provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff feel supported in their roles. Induction and core training are provided, including autism awareness and behaviour management strategies. However, staff do not fully understand the breadth of their roles and responsibilities. This has resulted in the areas of weakness identified in this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

In addition to this, shortfalls in the manager’s oversight of behaviour management in the home do not ensure that staff practice is always safe and appropriate.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 1248509 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Pippin Close, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN8 2DN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Nokuthula Mangwendeza

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Inspector(s)

Mary Timms, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1248509 8 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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